AI is going to be deployed by Surrey County Council to help it detect potholes so they can be swiftly repaired.

The council is to fit its highway vehicles with cameras that can automatically spot and photograph potholes, which will then be recorded for repair. Future enhancements will see other defects such as missing signs and foliage overgrowth also programmed for repair.

In December, the government promised to fix the UK’s tattered roads and fill in potholes with an extra £1.6bn investment that will be distributed to local councils.

Recent figures from the RAC revealed that pothole-related breakdowns jumped by a fifth (17%) in the final three months of 2024 compared with the previous quarter.

The body also predicted that the number of pothole breakdowns could increase even more in 2025 following the recent severe weather conditions that swept across the UK, including ice, snow and flooding.

Surrey County Council said its new AI technology would also reduce the risk to highway inspectors...